Cocaine Bear (2023)

Cocaine Bear is a film inspired by true events about various individuals getting maimed or killed by a drug-addicted bear.

Directed by the hit-or-miss director Elizabeth Banks. Don't get me wrong, I disliked 2019's Charlie's Angels heavily, but Pitch Perfect 2 was a movie I'll watch more than once. If I were her, I'd stick to what she was good at for acting like Brightburn, The Hunger Games, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin and then make movies similar to those.

Half the film follows Alden Ehrenreich and O'Shea Jackson Jr. and their quest to find all of the cocaine in the forest for their criminal boss. My thoughts on Han Solo from Ehrenreich have changed over the years of lackluster Star Wars films and tv. Jackson has only given me one bad performance and most people will recognize him from Straight Out of Compton. He did well here dealing with all the misfortune his character had throughout the film.

Keri Russel plays the other half of this adventure film where she looks to find her mischievous child and her best friend. Russel looks really good for her age and seems to play a character in her late twenties or early thirties despite being forty-six. While Russel was misused in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, she will always be Felicity to me.

The film delivers what the title suggests. Unfortunately, there was a young woman who wouldn't get off of TikTok in front of me. I doubt she watched twenty minutes of the film. I enjoyed the film, it's solid and doesn't have much downtime. Perhaps the support of numerous producers helped make this Banks' first good film, including Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, known for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse and The Lego Movie. Regardless, good job Banks, don't lean into the victim too much and people might enjoy looking forward to your films.

Result: B

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Rental Family (2025)

Rental Family is about an American living in Japan as an actor who falls into an odd acting gig as a surrogate family member or something similar for other people to cope or find meaning in relationships. Written and directed by Hikari, who brought us the critically acclaimed movie 37 Seconds which was sent straight to streaming back in 2020, so don't feel bad if you've never heard of it. This time around she's getting a proper release. Her direction is very artistic and the character writing is great. There are even moments of laughter in this drama. Brendan Frasier plays the main character a "token white guy" as the movie puts it. He is on a role with these select films. I'm excited for a Mummy reunion and his return with The Whale was great. This wasn't as well acted as The Whale, but it was still good. I'm not too sure this will get nominated for any Oscar or do well at the box office, but it was still good. Result: B

Him (2025)

Him (2025) is directed by Justin Tipping , best known for Kicks , with Jordan Peele serving as a heavy-handed producer. Despite the talent involved, the film leans into “and then” style writing that feels meandering and leaves the audience more tired than engaged. Marlon Wayans , known for White Chicks and Scary Movie , goes over the top in a way that doesn’t fit the film’s intent, creating more distraction than humor or depth. Tyriq Withers , previously in I Know What You Did Last Summer , turns in an even weaker performance here, offering little in the way of presence or believability. Julia Fox , who gained recognition for Uncut Gems , is strange and out of place, adding little to the narrative. Jim Jefferies , a comedian known for Legit , is barely given anything to work with, and his limited screen time wastes his talent. I found myself bored and not surprised. There is also a bit of sacrilegious writing that might turn off some audiences. Result: C+

Twisters (2024)

Twisters is a beat-for-beat retelling of the movie Twister but with some obvious updates. Oscar nominee, Lee Isaac Chung took the reigns to direct this reboot/remake. He directed Minari which I highly recommend. He also wrote that movie too, where he had Mark L. Smith write the screenplay, and Joseph Kosinski write the story. Smith's writing is all over the place with The Revenant being great, while Overlord is not. Twisters takes what it can from the original source but the dialogue and delivery could be better with certain characters. The elephant in the room is Anthony Ramos , who has yet to have a good acting performance. He was the worst actor in Hamilton and tried way too hard in Dumb Money . He can't deliver the lines or the character arch that was written for him. It's very hard to root for his character growth when he can't deliver it. Daisy Edgar-Jones plays the main character. She, like the first movie, has to deliver some really he...

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